torious army and,
November 26, 1869, arrived at Yedo and took up his residence in the
castle. Reports were made to him of the complete settlement of all
difficulties in the north and the establishment of peace. In token of his
arrival the name of Yedo had been changed to Tokyo(320) (eastern capital),
by which name it has since been known. As a compensation to the
disappointed and disheartened citizens of Kyoto, their city received the
corresponding designation of Saikyo (western capital). The year-period,
which from January, 1865, had borne the name of Keio, had been changed to
_Meiji_(321) (Enlightened Peace), and was fixed to begin from January,
1868. Heretofore the year-periods had been changed whenever it seemed
desirable to mark a fortunate epoch. But by the edict establishing the
_Meiji_ year-period, it was settled that hereafter an emperor was to make
but one change in the year-period during his reign.

The emperor returned to the western capital during the spring of 1869 for
a brief visit. The usual etiquette of mourning for his father required his
presence at the imperial tomb. He also availed himself of this visit to
wed the present empress, who was a princess of the house of Ichijo,(322)
one of the ancient families descended from the Fujiwara. He came back
again in April, but there was so much opposition on the part of the
inhabitants of the ancient capital to the complete loss of their emperor,
that it was deemed most prudent for the newly married empress to remain
behind. She did not set out for Tokyo to join her husband until the
November following, where she arrived without incident.

A surprising reminiscence of the Christianity which was supposed to have
been extinguished in the seventeenth century came to light in 1865.
Several Christian communities in the neighborhood of Nagasaki(323) were
discovered, who had preserved their faith for more than two hundred years.
Without priests, without teachers, almost without any printed instruction,
they had kept alive by tradition through successive generations a
knowledge of the religion which their ancestors had professed. These
communities had no doubt maintained a discreet quiet as to the tenets of
their belief. They had a traditional fear of the persecution to which
their fathers had been subjected and sought by silence to remain
undisturbed. It was the rejoicing at their discovery which directed the
attention of the government to the fire which had been so